Dreadful Contest Conditions: Version 2.0

When I was first licensed in 1972 conditions were on a rapid slide downward from a mediocre solar maximum into a long, deep trough. Adding to the woe was that I lived in the radio black hole known as Manitoba (VE4). But we were young and didn't know better. We were happy working what little DX we could. Soon I got into contests and like all my friends focused on domestic (North American) events such as ARRL Sweepstakes in which propagation was less of a factor.

Then came 1979. Not only was that a very good solar maximum it was also when I moved to Ottawa and became a VE3. One of the first things I did after moving into my apartment was to turn on my FT101E and attach a 10' wire on the back for an antenna. It did it to listen around since I missed being on the air.

I clicked over to 40 meters since it was evening and I was astounded. The band was packed with European stations. With a low inverted vee in VE4 during a solar minimum it took patience to work any Europe at all. In my excitement I phoned a friend back home and turned up the audio so he could hear what it was like out east. VE3 is hardly an ideal location for DXing but it shows that your location can change your perspective on the hobby.

From WM7D's solar indices site

Which brings me to this past weekend and the ARRL DX SSB contest. Conditions were dreadful and, making it worse, we are deep within a solar minimum. Although everyone suffered we are far enough north that I could only sigh as I listened to stations south of me working DX that I could barely hear or not hear at all.

Despite what I once wrote about contesting in dreadful conditions I did not stick with it. Although I've been happy to do SSB contests with QRP or low power in the past I had little enthusiasm to persevere this time. That decision was made before I discovered how bad conditions were in the wake of a geomagnetic storm, in that I planned a part time effort. Instead I operated for brief spurts and abandonned the contest entirely early Sunday morning with only 170 QSOs in the log.

That everyone else was suffering didn't comfort me this time around. Operators further west had it much worse, almost cut off from Europe on all bands due to absorption in the auroral zone.

Looking through the claimed scores on 3830 it appears that had I stuck with it I might have been competitive. Unlike the CW weekend I was fortunate that all my antennas worked, including the intermittent ones like the 40 meter yagi. It would have been an enthusiasm sapping slog, moderately rich in multipliers (band-countries) and poor in QSOs (rate). I'll never know for sure how I would have placed.

When I contested with QRP I went into each contest knowing my QSO rate and score would be low, even if competitive within the category. As my antennas and power improved my expectations increased. I am no longer as accepting of a low score, no matter my competitiveness. There is nothing wrong with this. Entering contests against your feelings can reduce your interest in the activity for all future events. Of course those feelings can turn more positive once you roll up your sleeves and get busy working stations, digging out all the QSOs and multipliers your station and skill permits.

There is no easy answer, just be aware of the dilemma when propagation falters. It can be worth the experiment to jump into a contest when conditions are poor to learn how to deal with it. That experience can guide what you do in future. You may surprise yourself.